WEST MICHIGAN —U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials will apply pesticides to the White River system starting this week to kill sea lamprey larvae burrowed into the stream bottom.

The applications of Lampricid and Bayluscide are tentatively expected to begin at some locations Thursday or Friday and be completed within about three days, according to Jeff Slade of the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Ludington station. The timing will depend on weather and stream conditions, including water temperature.

The applications will be done in portions of the White River and its tributaries in Muskegon, Oceana and Newaygo counties.

Adult sea lamprey are eel-like parasites that migrate to the Great Lakes and attach themselves to fish, sucking the life out of them. The bloodsuckers first invaded the western Great Lakes in the 1920s through the Welland Canal near Niagara Falls and quickly decimated native fish, including lake trout.

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Failure to kill the lamprey larvae would result in significant damage to the Great Lakes fishery, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service. Infested tributaries must be treated every three to five years to control the sea lamprey population.

Lampricid and Bayluscide are lampricides — pesticides targeted specifically at lamprey larvae. According to reviews of human health and environmental studies by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Health Canada Pest Management Regulatory Agency, the lampricides “pose no unreasonable risk” to humans and the environment when applied at the correct concentrations.

But the agency advises the public to use discretion and minimize needless exposure.
A few fish, insects and broad-leaf plants are also sensitive to lampricides. People confining bait fish or other organisms in stream water are advised to use an alternate water source.

Agricultural irrigation must also be suspended for 24 hours during and after treatment.

The personnel applying the lampricides are trained in their use and certified by Michigan regulatory agencies. Extensive preparations are done before application to ensure safety and effectiveness, including data collection on stream-water chemistry and discharge. Personnel may also do toxicity tests and stream-flow studies with dyes that turn the water red or green.

The lampricides are metered into the stream for about 12 hours and continually analyzed at predetermined sites to ensure the concentration is correct.

The program is contracted through the Great Lakes Fishery Commission to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. The commission began chemical control of sea lampreys in 1958.